


pressure, clean, bandage

by Shykino



Series: Survivors in the Quiet Apocalypse [2]
Category: The Long Dark (Video Game)
Genre: Blood, Gen, Injury, adrian is my friend bloodmonastery's character! i lov him hes grumpy dad, pretty nondescript tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:15:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22144717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shykino/pseuds/Shykino
Summary: adrian is injured by a wolf while they're out scavenging. melody has to patch him up.
Series: Survivors in the Quiet Apocalypse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1593883
Kudos: 3





	pressure, clean, bandage

**Author's Note:**

> :( my poor girl, she does so good!!!
> 
> (found family Gets Me)

her hands flutter like a hummingbird's wings, jumping back and forth between adrian and her pack laying next to her, the contents scattered across the floorboards around it. he's been hurt before, of course, but this seems much worse, and the blood oozing from the deep wound in his thigh is a red flag, scattering her thoughts.

she feels a hand grasp her forearm and she fixes her gaze on his face, firelit from the stove a few feet away, and she's relieved to look away from the injury the wolf had left when it had tackled him. he looks remarkably calm, focused. his jaw is tense, but when isn't it?

he squeezes her arm tighter and she refocuses on what he is trying to say.

"songbird, bandages." his voice is a gruff thing, and the edge in it sends her flying back on track. she can still hear her old first aid instructor giving directions.

"right, right. pressure first, clean, bandage. pressure, clean, bandage..."

the pants are already torn around the wound, so she grabs a knife and cuts the final pieces out of the way. she smiles a bit when he complains and tells him she'll patch them later, her voice fighting to remain level. she snags a few pieces of clean cloth and, remembering something about elevation, pulls his leg gently into her lap. she presses the gauze firmly to his leg, apologizing quickly when he hisses but keeping the pressure up.

she starts humming quietly, nervously, and when she feels the blood seep through the cloth she grabs another and presses it over top with shaky hands.

it takes a few minutes for the bleeding to slow, the only sounds in the small room that of her humming and adrian cursing occasionally. but mostly, he lays his head on a bedroll - hers - and stares at the window, probably thinking. he doesn't talk as much as she does. she keeps humming, compulsively licking her dry lips every so often.

after even more time passes, maybe 10 minutes, she cautiously pulls back the blood soaked cloth and breathes a sigh of relief when she sees the bleeding has started to clot.

"okay, okay, um. okay adrian, i need to clean it." she reaches for a bottle of water and a clean cloth. he reaches for hydrogen peroxide at the same time and she smacks his hand away. he looks offended as she pours a bit of water over her hands, and then wets the cloth.

"no peroxide, not for something this deep. itd do more damage than good." she keeps the uncertainty in her thoughts. he doesn't need that right now.

he settles back with a slight glare but waves her on. she moves his leg for a moment and darts to the bathroom to get the small bottle of hand soap she'd seen the other day. something finally goes right for her, and it's unscented.

she jogs back over and kneels on the wooden floors, warmed by the fire, and props his leg back over her thighs. she uncaps the soap and rubs a bit of lather into the wet cloth.

she exhales forcefully, bracing herself, and leans over his leg to start cleaning it. she wipes slowly, gently from the center outwards, like she remembers her mom doing for her every time she hurt herself. she works diligently to get all of the dirt and debris out of it, biting her lip as she concentrates.

they don't have the luxury of antibiotic cream, and she takes her time to make it as clean as possible. it takes even longer than stopping the bleeding, but she keeps going until it's done. she grabs the water bottle again and tips it over the wound and pours water over it slowly until she thinks all the soap is out. she's almost done, and hopefully the worst is over. she starts singing quietly as she grabs a final cloth and blots the wound until its dry.

she reaches to the pack and pulls out a bandage roll and starts to wrap his thigh, making sure she hasn't pulled it too tight after each rotation and then finally, finally it's done. the adrenaline fades all at once and her head drops forward into her hands. she's shuddering and takes a moment to breathe, he'll be okay, breathe...

she settles his leg onto the floor and stands, wobbles a bit on dead legs, and steps over her pack to grab his bedroll. she rolls it out next to where he lays now and kneels next to his head.

"come on adrian, i've got your bedroll out. let's get you into it okay?" he grumbles but helps her out as much as he can and they eventually get him settled under the covers. he had already eaten while they were out, so she gives him a drink and sets the water next to him. she moves to roll out her roll next to his so she can keep an eye on him but his voice draws her attention back.

"... songbird. melody. good job." and then he shifts further down the bedroll and closes his eyes to sleep. her name sounds weird in his voice, after all of this time being called songbird, but it's nice. she likes how it feels, lighting a small fire of affection in her heart. she flushes with pride at the rare praise from adrian and sits cross legged on her bedroll to keep watch, pulling her blankets up around her shoulders and tries to lose herself a bit in the way the firelight plays across the old wallpaper.


End file.
